


I love you 3000

by Rose_SK



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Irondad, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Not Beta Read, Parent Tony Stark, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Endgame, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 08:29:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19103440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_SK/pseuds/Rose_SK
Summary: The God of Mischief nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a small hand wrap around his wrist.“What is it, child? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”“I couldn’t sleep,” Morgan whispered so as to not wake her snoring father, “I had a nightmare.”





	I love you 3000

** ‘I love you 3000.’ **

Loki woke up with a start, barely managing to hold back a frightened scream as he recovered from his nightmare. They were not a new occurrence, but since the final battle against Thanos and Tony nearly dying to save the world, Loki’s nightmares had got worse. His hand raked through his slightly damp hair as he let out a relieved breath. He was home, he was safe. A quick glance to his left confirmed that Tony was still peacefully asleep next to him. Only then did Loki allow his body to fully relax. Everything was fine, they were there together. They were both safe. The God of Mischief nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a small hand wrap around his wrist. His first instinct was to draw out the knives he usually kept under his pillow, but he remembered too late that Tony had kindly asked him to store his weapons away from Morgan’s curious hands.

“What is it, child? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Even though Loki’s tone sounded slightly irritated, deep down he worried about Morgan just as much as her parents and the other members of the Avengers did. He was just not good at showing how much he really cared. Her eyes were Loki’s weakness: they were just like her father’s. Loki was never good at refusing Tony anything when he looked at the God with those rich chocolate orbs.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Morgan whispered so as to not wake her snoring father, “I had a nightmare.”

Those eyes again, so wide and scared that Loki could feel his heart break at the sight of them. This sweet, innocent child should not be having bad dreams at her age, but Morgan Stark had gone through more than most children her age had. Nearly losing her father to a purple titan, watching him heal from the most horrendous wounds... Loki and Pepper had done their best to shield Morgan from the trauma, but the young child was stubborn and would not leave her father’s side while Loki performed healing rituals, or while Pepper spoon-fed the father of her child soup and porridges. Morgan had witnessed Tony at his very lowest, and her love for him had only grown stronger over the months. The two of them were nearly inseparable now.

Which was why Loki was more than a little surprised when the child had come to him after a nightmare.

“I know the feeling, little one. What do you say we go make you a hot chocolate?”

Morgan’s brown eyes widened with glee at the suggestion. She bounced on the ball of her feet as she hurried out of the bedroom, Loki watching her leave with a fond smile tugging at the corner of his lips. One last glance at Tony told the God of Mischief that his lover was still fast asleep. In a rare moment of intimacy, Loki leaned over Tony and placed a soft kiss on his lover’s temple before pushing the covers aside and following Morgan into the kitchen. The child was already sitting at the table, her favourite stuffed animal of the moment clutched tightly to her chest. Her bare feet dangled impatiently from the chair as she waited for Loki to make good on his promise.

“Do you want to talk about your bad dream?” Loki asked as he took out a saucepan from the bottom cupboard and filled it halfway with milk. Using his magic, he slowly heated up the thick liquid.

“There were three people who took me away, and I was in a big room tied to a chair. I screamed, but no one could hear me. Mummy and daddy were not there, you were not there either. And the three people, I couldn’t see who they were, they just stood there and laughed at me when I cried for mummy, and daddy, and you. Not even Mr Cap could hear me.”

Loki poured the now hot milk into Morgan’s favourite mug and added the powdered chocolate he found in the top cupboard. Although the God of Mischief could have happily used magic to conjured the beverage into existence, something about doing it the ‘human’ way felt more personal, not that Loki would ever admit that. The God placed the mug in front of the child and smiled slightly as he observed Morgan blowing on the drink which was still too hot to consume.

“You know little one, you’re safe here. Your father, the Avengers, and me… we would never let anyone get to you, do you understand? And when you’re at your mother’s, trust my word on this, no one in their right mind in the entire universe would dare provoke your mother in such a way. She’s a fierce warrior.”

“Are you scared of her?” Morgan asked with a cheeky smile. Loki feigned a serious look as he stared intently at the giggling child.

“Morgan Stark, I am terrified of your mother. Who wouldn’t be? But shh…,” Loki put a finger to Morgan’s lips for emphasis, “… don’t let me catch you telling her that. She would have too much power over me.”

“I promise, it’ll be our little secret,” the child vowed, drawing an imaginary ‘x’ over her heart. Loki winked at her and watched Morgan take a drink of her hot chocolate. An appreciative sigh pushed past her lips as she tasted the delicious chocolaty treat. “Loki?”

“What is it, little one?”

“Do you miss _your_ mummy and daddy?”

The question took Loki by surprise, and the God’s jaw tensed involuntarily as he was reminded of his family, of his history. The memory of Odin, the man who had lied to him and had hoped to use him as a diplomatic tool between Asgardians and Frost giants, awoke the old feelings of anger and betrayal in Loki. Simultaneously, the memory of his mother who had loved him more than words could describe soothed his emotional turmoil. Even though Loki had never truly forgiven Odin for his betrayal, he still thought of Frigga as his mother. Loki still mourned her, and felt responsible for her death to this day. Anger was replaced with guilt, guilt with grief. The God of Mischief almost forgot that Morgan was still waiting for an answer to her seemingly innocent question.

“I miss my mother a lot, yes,” Loki admitted, his voice small and close to a whisper, “Thor was always closer to Od… our father.”

“Thor told me that your mummy and daddy went to a place called Valhalla. Is that like a holiday place?”

Loki mentally cursed his brother for not watching his tongue, as usual.

“Yes, so to speak, little one. They’ve worked very hard all their lives, and now they’re resting in Valhalla.”

Morgan nodded and sipped on her hot chocolate, clearly satisfied with the answer Loki had given her. The God of Mischief thought he dodged a bullet, but he should have known better. After all, this was not just any child. This was Tony Stark’s daughter.

“Were you dreaming of them when I came into your room tonight?”

Loki carefully pondered his next move, wondering whether he should tell Morgan the truth. The child was wise beyond her years, that much was true, but Loki believed that every child should keep their innocence for as long as possible. Then again, Morgan seemed to be more observing than most people gave her credit for. Perhaps she deserved to be treated and spoken to like an equal.

“I wasn’t, little one. I did have a nightmare, though. You know, my mother used to tell me that nightmares are nothing more than our brain trying to make sense of our fears. In theory, you are always in full control of your actions in your dreams, but because you’re facing your worst fears, you think that you’re helpless and unable to help yourself. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Morgan was momentarily silent as she reflected on Loki’s words.

“I think so,” she said after some time, “but you can’t be scared of anything Loki. You’re a _God_.”

Loki chuckled at the innocence of Morgan’s words.

“You’d be surprised, little one. I’m scared mostly of losing people that I care about.”

“People like… daddy?” Loki smiled softly at the child, feeling oddly safe telling her about his weaknesses. For some reason, the God of Mischief had a feeling that Morgan Stark would take his secrets to the grave.

“Yes.”

“People like… Mr Thor?”

“Yes,” Loki reluctantly admitted after the briefest of hesitations. Hopefully Morgan would not let the God of Thunder know how much he actually meant to Loki. He had a reputation to maintain, after all.

“People like… me?”

The tone in which that question was asked very nearly broke Loki’s heart. Morgan waited expectantly for an answer, uncertainty written all over her face as she stared at Loki with those damned eyes of hers. How could she not know that he would go to the ends of the world for her? Loki stood up from his seat and went to kneel before Morgan, taking her tiny hands in his larger ones, and offering her a kind look.

“Little one, I’m going to tell you a secret and I trust that you won’t repeat it to anyone.” Loki almost felt proud when he noticed the mischievous glint dancing in Morgan’s eyes as she nodded her approval enthusiastically. The God lowered his voice to a whisper to add to the mysticism of their conversation. “Alright, listen closely. Out of all the people who live on the compound, and probably out of all the people in the entire universe, _you_ my dear are probably my favourite of them all.”

The sheer happiness those words triggered in the young child was infectious. Loki barely managed to catch Morgan as she threw herself at him, wrapping her skinny arms around his neck and kissing his cheek loudly.

“I love you 3000, Loki,” she said as she squeezed him as hard as she could, which was not all that hard, but Loki enjoyed the gesture nonetheless. It made his heart tighten in his chest. He never thought that after the fiasco in New York he would ever be deserving of such devotion and love from anyone ever again. Morgan and Tony were his second chance. His second chance to prove that he was not a heartless monster. His arms wrapped protectively around the small child, and since he could not bring himself to say the words back to her, he placed an equally meaningful kiss on the crown of her head.

“Well, what do we have here? Hot chocolate and cuddles without me? Morgan, I thought _I_ was your favourite person to cuddle with!”

Loki looked up at Tony standing in the kitchen doorway, a mock hurt expression plastered on his face. Morgan quickly disentangled herself from Loki and rushed to her father, who merely crossed his arms before his chest and made a point of looking anywhere _but_ at his daughter.

“Nope, too late now, don’t even bother sucking up to me now. Go cuddle with Loki, you traitor!”

“Daddy!” Morgan squealed, giggling as she tried to get her father to pick her up. Tony pouted playfully as he locked eyes with Loki.

“What say you, oh Loki of Asgard, should I show this child mercy and surrender?” Morgan turned around and shot Loki a pleading look, which had the God chuckling deeply in his throat.

“This young warrior seems very persuasive to me. I say we give her one last chance and let bygones be bygones.”

Tony feigned to be deep in thought as he brought his index to his lips, tapping them pensively as he looked at his daughter. Morgan, seeing as she still had some convincing left to do, deployed her master weapon: the pouty face coupled with the sad puppy eyes. Loki grinned proudly as he watched the young girl put all her acting efforts into breaking her father’s will. Emotional manipulation, one of the most effective weapons if used well. Morgan certainly knew how to use her assets to her best advantage. She would go far, very far indeed. She was a Stark, after all.

“Miss Stark, you’ve been spending too much time with a certain God of Mischief,” Tony admonished fondly, “this is so unfair! Loki, you’ve been teaching her this, admit it! That look has Loki of Asgard written all over it.”

“My signature move, actually. It works marvellously well on Thor too, Morgan. Just for future reference…”

The child shot Loki a knowing look over her shoulder, her grin matching the God’s as she undoubtedly started thinking of ways to wrap Thor around her little finger. Not that that would be too difficult to achieve, Loki thought to himself. Thor had never been able to resist children anything. The God looked up at his lover, who had by now picked up his darling daughter and was spinning her around the kitchen to the sound of her gleeful shrieks. When Tony met Loki’s eyes, a loving smile graced his lips. That look of pure adoration never failed to make the God’s heart melt in his chest. A pleasant warmth pooled in his stomach before spreading like little streams of fire through his body all the way to his fingertips and toes. Only Tony could make Loki feel this way, and the God both loved and hated his lover for it. Tony was his weakness, that much was certain, but Tony was also what made Loki strong.

“Now, little princess, I do believe it’s way past your bedtime, and nightmare or not, you need to sleep. I’ll make you a deal: you go to bed now, and tomorrow we’ll see about taking you to the zoo before driving back to mom’s. That sound good to you?” If the way Morgan’s eyes widened was any indication at all, Loki guessed that the child was more than thrilled about the idea. Her enthusiastic nod only added to his certainty.

“Alright then, off to bed you go. And you too, Reindeer Games,” Tony added sternly, pointing a finger at Loki so there was no mistake as to whom those words were directed at. The God merely rolled his eyes, although the hint of a smile betrayed his amusement. He watched as Tony carried an already yawning Morgan into her room before heading back to their shared bed. The sheets were cold by then, and Loki secretly hoped that Tony would be back soon to help him warm up. He faintly heard Tony wish Morgan a good night and kiss her forehead in the room next door. This man was an amazing father, Loki could not help but think. He was the kind of father any child wished and deserved to have in their lives. He was the father that Howard Stark never was. Loki always made sure to remind Tony of that.

“So…,” Tony whispered as he entered their room again and jumped into bed with Loki, “she loves you 3000, huh?”

“Apparently so,” was all Loki said, trying hard to hide his blushing.

“Wanna know a secret?”

“Hm?”

“I love you 3000, too,” Tony whispered softly before placing a lingering kiss right behind Loki’s ear, his most erogenous spot. The action had Loki mewling appreciatively, a reaction he would forever deny if it ever came up in any future conversations.  

“You’ll be the death of me, Anthony!”

Tony had a witty quip at the ready, but fell asleep in Loki’s arms before he had a chance to voice it. The God merely kissed Tony’s lips softly before whispering an almost inaudible _I love you, too_ in the sleeping engineer’s ear. Yes, Tony and Morgan were his second chance.

And Loki would not blow it this time.


End file.
